STAR WARS Spin-Off Loses Writer Gary Whitta
Update: Writer Simon Kinberg is rumored to be taking over Whitta's role as writer. Find out more at the bottom of this article.
According to THR, writer Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli, After Earth) has left the upcoming Star Wars spin-off set to be directed by Godzilla helmer Gareth Edwards. Whitta, who is active on social media, completed the first draft of a screenplay, and he's now moving on to his next project: an adaptation of Mark Millar's comic Starlight. But before you Star Wars fans out there start getting worried about the future of the spin-off movie, it seems like everything is all good between the parties involved here. Whitta told THR:
The year I spent working with Lucasfilm on this Star Wars film has been by far the most rewarding period of my entire career. As a lifelong Star Wars fan I’m deeply grateful to have had the rare opportunity to contribute to a new chapter in its ongoing cinematic legacy. The film is going to be amazing.
And Edwards said:
Gary has been a wonderful, inspired contributor and I enjoyed working with him tremendously. I’m so grateful for all of his contributions.
Rumor has it the plot of the spin-off movie will focus on a heist to retrieve the plans for the Death Star, but nothing official has been confirmed about that as of yet. We'll keep you posted when we hear anything about another writer coming on board to take a new pass at the material. This still-untitled first Star Wars spin-off is scheduled to arrive in theaters on December 16th, 2016.
Update: /Film claims that Simon Kinberg will take over as the writer of Edwards' film. They weren't able to confirm the rumor yet, but they seem pretty confident that it's true - and frankly, it makes a lot of sense. Kinberg has already been pegged as a writer of one of the standalone films, he's producing and writing Star Wars Rebels, and he's been a part of the Lucasfilm brain trust basically since they started ramping up plans to produce a lot more Star Wars content following the company's acquisition by Disney. He's likely already very familiar with the work that Whitta has already done, and it would be a very easy transition for him to slide into that role now that Whitta has moved on.